ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A Republican congresswoman from upstate New York says "many" people who commit mass murder are Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney made the comment Wednesday on Talk 1300 Radio during a discussion about calls for stricter gun control since last week's deadly Florida high school shooting. She says she finds it interesting "so many" people who commit mass murders "end up being Democrats" but offers no evidence to support that.

Democratic state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi is opposing Tenney this fall and calls her comments "disgusting" and "toxic."

Tenney later said her comments were in response to a question about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crimes.

Tenney was first elected in 2016. Her district covers a large swath of central New York including the cities of Binghamton, Utica and Rome.